Fredonia’s Nick Whitfield poses for a photo with Coach Nick Bertrando after the senior forward scored his 1,000th career point in the Hillbillies’ Section VI Class B2 prequarterfinal basketball victory at Cleveland Hill on Wednesday night. Submitted Photo
CHEEKTOWAGA — Nick Bertrando has coached Nick Whitfield for four years as a member of the Fredonia boys varsity basketball team.
“I’ve literally watched this guy grow up,” he said.
The senior stood tall again Wednesday night, scoring 32 points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out four assists and collecting a pair of steals as the 10th-seeded Hillbillies held off No. 7 Cleveland Hill 69-56 in a Section VI Class B2 prequarterfinal basketball game at Cleveland Hill High School.
Of personal significance, the 6-foot-5 forward scored his 1,000th career point midway through the third quarter.
“It’s a tough achievement, seeing as he only played in one game last year (because of injury),” Bertrando said. ” … I would be remiss if I didn’t say how solid a person he is. I’m excited for him at the next level, playing football and going into the teaching field, so it will be nice to see him develop in that role as well.”
On a night where there was no tomorrow, Whitfield had help from his teammates, too.
Junior Ethan Fry scored 22 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and sophomore Davion White added 10 points, 6 in the final period, to help Fredonia gain some separation on the pesky Golden Eagles (7-13). Led by junior Zack Phillips’ 32 points, including six 3-pointers, Cleveland Hill didn’t go away after both teams played to a 25-all tie at halftime.
“We knew about him,” Bertrando said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do a good enough job defensively. He kept them in the game, for sure.”
Cameron D’hilly added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
The win advances Fredonia (13-8) into the semifinals at noon Saturday at No. 2 Newfane (14-6).
“I would definitely like to get a little more consistency at both ends of the floor, especially now,” Bertrando said.
In addition to his points, Fry collected six rebounds and dished out three assists; and Jay Hawk had 5 points, six boards and two assists.
FREDONIA (69)
KWhitfield 0 0 0, Fry 8 6 22, Creeeley 0 1 1, NWhitfield 11 7 29, Schrader 1 0 2, Hawk 2 0 5, White 4 1 10, Totals 25 15 69.
CLEVELAND HILL (56)
Spivey 1 0 2, D’hilly 7 1 15, Meredith 1 0 2, Phillips 13 0 32, Mann 2 1 5, Totals 24 2 56.
3-point goals — Fry 2, Hawk, White, Phillips 6.
Fredonia 16 9 19 25 — 69
Cleveland Hill 8 17 10 21 — 56
DUNKIRK LOSES CLOSE ONE
EAST AURORA — No. 15 Dunkirk was on the verge of a huge upset.
Then No. 7 East Aurora’s offense went into overdrive in the second half.
Leading 41-28 at halftime and 59-50 after three quarters, the Marauders saw the Blue Devils erupt for 30 points in the final period on their way to an 80-77 victory in a Section VI Class B1 quarterfinal game at East Aurora High School.
Matt Horning scored 24 points, including 18 after the break, to lead the Blue Devils (10-11), who drilled 12 treys as a team. Ryan Ensminger had 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter; Zack Parrish collected 13; and Hunter Gould chipped in 11.
Marcel Carter paced Dunkirk (8-14) with 20 points, A’marion Tell and Quanyay Thomas both had 17, and Jack Lanski chipped in 12.
East Aurora will travel to No. 2 Olean at noon Saturday for a quarterfinal game.
DUNKIRK (77)
Carter 7 4 20, Tell 6 2 17, Dejesus 1 0 2, Lanski 5 2 12, Thomas 7 2 17, Orcutt 2 0 6, Brown 1 1 3, Totals 29 11 77.
EAST AURORA (80)
Perry 3 0 8, Gould 4 0 11, Horning 8 5 24, Bell 0 0 0, Parrish 5 0 13, Hoeg 0 0 0, Misenheimer 0 0 0, Ensminger 6 8 21, Kouya 0 0 0, Wittenrich 0 0 0, LaRouech 1 1 3, Totals 27 14 80.
Dunkirk 22 19 18 18 — 77
East Aurora 14 14 22 30 — 80
COUGARS FALL
WILSON — Cassadaga Valley saw its season end after falling to Wilson 63-32 in a Section VI Class C prequarterfinal game.
No other information was available at press time.